A school minibus has crashed into a truck in France, killing at least six children a day after another road accident involving a school bus left two youngsters dead.

The head-on smash with a lorry carrying rubble occurred around 7:15am local time near Rochefort in the western Charente-Maritime region.

Jerome Servolle, a local police official, said a 'gate-like object' had swung open on the truck, slicing through the vehicle at window height.

Six children died and another three were injured when the school bus collided with a lorry this morning. A local police official said a gate-like part of the truck swung open, slicing through the bus at window height

The crash occurred this morning in Rochefort, in the Charente-Maritime region in western France

He said: 'The word chaos is not strong enough. This is such a tragedy.'

Herve Blanche, Rochefort's mayor, confirmed the ‘horrific accident’ had claimed the lives of six children, and left at least three others seriously injured. He said the causes of the crash were under investigation.

A witness to the aftermath of the crash said: ‘It is a scene of chaos. The vehicles have been smashed to pieces, and emergency workers are helping survivors.’

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The bus had been travelling from the Ile d’Oleron - the island off France’s Atlantic coast - to the town of Surgeres.

President Francois Hollande extended his ‘deepest sympathies’ to friends and families of the victims, who have not been identified.

Yesterday two children, aged 12 and 15, died when a school bus veered off a road in snowy conditions near the Swiss border in eastern France.

The school bus was carrying 32 children on its daily trip to the village school in Montbenoit when it 'left the road' in snowy conditions, a police source in that case said.

Investigations into the exact cause of both accidents have already been opened.

A total of 3,464 people died on French roads in 2015 – a 2.4 percent increase on 2014. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve blamed the spike on ‘an increase in risky behaviour that can lead to fatalities’.

Mr Cazeneuve also said drivers were ‘too relaxed’ when it came to following the road rules, and that many motorists continued to drive ‘at excessive speed’.